Dealer Service Fee to Replace Harman Parts

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May 1, 2012
19
Maine
I have a dealer that has serviced my used Harman Accentra FS pellet stove for me. They also did my installation and they do great work. I was wondering, however, what a "fair" price was (in your opinions) for a service call fee to replace a failed motor or blower. My distribution blower just failed on me and they quoted the part ($290) plus a service installation fee of $175 (total $482). It's hard to put a price on good customer service, but does this seem steep to anyone else? I'm not very savy when it comes to mechanical parts, is this something I could do myself?
 
I would think a combustion blower is one of the easier things to change. Ideally you had been taking it off and cleaning it, as the Harman manual considers this a user maintenance item. Take a look at your manual, it will show you how to take it off. From there, it is a matter of removing the connection from the old one and plugging the new one in. I would research a DIY before spring 175 on labor. That's 3/4 a ton of pellets. ;)
 
I would bet you could do it it is not complicated. As far as the service fee it seems a little high at least for this area but I know nothing about pricing in your area. we would charge 135.
 
I have a dealer that has serviced my used Harman Accentra FS pellet stove for me. They also did my installation and they do great work. I was wondering, however, what a "fair" price was (in your opinions) for a service call fee to replace a failed motor or blower. My distribution blower just failed on me and they quoted the part ($290) plus a service installation fee of $175 (total $482). It's hard to put a price on good customer service, but does this seem steep to anyone else? I'm not very savy when it comes to mechanical parts, is this something I could do myself?

When you say "distribution blower" do you mean the Convection blower that blows hot air into the room?

Re the $175, I would call that high but not outrageous. Consider the time for you to drive round trip to the dealer to pick up the part, grab a cup of coffee on the way back, then set up the drop cloth and tools so there's zero chance the wife will be upset, finally disassemble and reassemble all panels to change the blower. If that adds up to 2 to 2.5 hours then the billed time is not outrageous.

If you could do it you'd save $160 bucks (that $15 expenses for gas and that cup of coffee). As another poster here likes to say: That's a lot of beer.
 
The price sounds normal for the distribution blower, 175 might be considered a little steep, but might include labor and mileage fee. I'm assuming there are more than one service guy available for service in your area??
 
Yes, by distribution I mean the blower that is moving the hot air away from the stove, not the combustion blower.

I don't think the price is outrageous, it just stings to replace this part for close to $500. If anyone has a step-by-step replacement guide for the Accentra FS, I'd be interested in seeing it. I value the relationship I have with the dealer as they have been responsive to my needs with no obligation, seeing as I bought the stove used from a private seller. There is something to be said for having help available when you need it....
 
a qwik google led me to this rate table for auto mechanics;

http://www.automd.com/shops/ME/?page=2

now for a pellet stove repair shop to charge more than double the hourly rate of a qualified mechanic, even if the pellet mechanic charged the same as the auto mechanic it still don't make NO sense to me!!

but I guess it is what it is..... not a very affordable world we live in LOL!!
 
How much can you find the part for on line?
You could probably pay someone 50 bucks to install it if your not willing to do yourself,
This way, you still save alot of money
 
supply and demand, there's many more auto mechanics than pellet stove mechanics, plus they come to you
 
a qwik google led me to this rate table for auto mechanics;

http://www.automd.com/shops/ME/?page=2

now for a pellet stove repair shop to charge more than double the hourly rate of a qualified mechanic, even if the pellet mechanic charged the same as the auto mechanic it still don't make NO sense to me!!

but I guess it is what it is..... not a very affordable world we live in LOL!!
Does the auto mechanic come to your home and fix your car? Actually the distributor fan isn't that bad of a job and the motor can be had at other sources much cheaper then through Harman. Take it to a electric motor repair place as they have several sources to get one. Seems Dayton makes one for a Harman PC45. Probably has a number on the original for a reference.
 
Does the auto mechanic come to your home and fix your car?

you'd have to ask the specific mechanic...

lets not beat around the bush here, $175 labour for probably less than an hours work for some guy that's had a couple hours of training, better yet I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, 6 weeks of training then... is highway robbery in my humblest of opinions!!
 
you'd have to ask the specific mechanic...

lets not beat around the bush here, $175 labour for probably less than an hours work for some guy that's had a couple hours of training, better yet I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, 6 weeks of training then... is highway robbery in my humblest of opinions!!
Truth be known that is why I taught myself how to take apart and reassemble everything on my stove. I can connect it to my laptop and it will do a self diagnostic test covering every part of the stove making it easy to find the problem and fix it. I also took time to find other suppliers for parts that will fit the stove so I am not dependent on one store.
Sometimes we complain about the price of labor but if your toilet is plugged and water is running all over cost is secondary. The plumber has you over a barrel unless you know how to fix it your self. Same as a stove if you are unwilling to learn then you pay the going price.
I was in the paying position once and knew I was being taking advantage of but after that I made up my mind to educate myself and have some spare parts on hand to fix any potential problem. That has paid off many times.
 
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Rona. What is your pellet stove, and what would you consider to be a spare parts list? I use a Harman which isn't much more than a year old. What would a "spare parts list" be suggested for me?
 
Rona. What is your pellet stove, and what would you consider to be a spare parts list? I use a Harman which isn't much more than a year old. What would a "spare parts list" be suggested for me?
He's a primary Bixby. With being in corn country it is a good choice. Hookup to computer and monitor over 20 things. Wish the DDM for Harman wasn't so expensive. I would say a ESP and igniter. Amazon, Grainger and ebay the fans. Keep them clean and will last a long time.
 
Those mechanic rates are not realistic more in the 80-100$ an hour. And you have to figure in travel time and fuel seems like a reasonable house call price. That said I would figure it out myself
 
If you look in the manual there's probably a very descriptive way of how remove and replace it. Also, briefly looking online I found one for $260 with free shipping.

Do you have any mechanically inclined friends that could help you for beer and pizza?
 
Rona. What is your pellet stove, and what would you consider to be a spare parts list? I use a Harman which isn't much more than a year old. What would a "spare parts list" be suggested for me?
Answering which stove do I have. I have been burning corn or pellets or a combination for 9 years. Started out with a Harman 45 because corn was cheap and fuel oil went through the roof. The Harman replaced a wood stove I had in a finished basement and my hope was it would heat the upstairs like the old wood stove did. Nope it didn't so I bought a Quad AE figuring bigger was better 60,000 btu versus 45,000 btu. Wrong again! I learned a lot about the AE that winter. Never was so glad to see Spring arrive. I had looked at Bixby but was turned off by close to 4,000.00 and really I didn't like the looks of them. but in August I seen them advertised on E-Bay for 1700-1800.00 new but no warranty. So bought one of them and after I got it home set it on rollers so I could roil it outside and run it trying to see how it worked and why it was sold so cheap. After a while I realized nothing was wrong with the unit and it really was a bargain. Now I finally got smart and installed in on the main floor of our home. Several people laughed and said who will service it for you and where will you get parts? That's easy with the money I saved I could buy a second one for parts if I need them so I did. Now I have 3400.00 invested but have two new stoves. In the mean time I got all the new parts under warranty for the AE and sold it for 3400.00.
I did have the ceramic igniters go bad but switched to metal igniters and no more problems. The only weak point I have seen is the convection fan bearings that after three years will need replacing but that is a simple job. They cost about 5.00 each and you need two. There was several software updates and with a special cable and the software you can improve or fine-tune the performance of the stove. Part of the software is called Bixcheck which if you use it you can check 46 different things on the stove to determine if things are working ot if you have a problem it will help determine what it is and the solution. You leave a cheap laptop hooked up so you can turn it off or on with any computer or smart phone.
It has been said these were complicated stoves and there was a lot of problems. Yes if you compared it to a wood stove they are complicated as you can adjust the air and fuel. Some people have a hard time with that but its the same with a carb on a lawn mower or bike or sno blower. When its cold air is more dense more oxygen so the stove needs a little more fuel. With the later software it can adjust itself.
The Bixby company is out of business for now but parts are available both from Bixby parts and other generic sources.
If I owned a Harman PC45 I would have extra stirrers and extra covers that fit over the fire. They are considered wear items. I would definitely want a extra ESP Probe as that is the first thing Harman blames a failure on. The igniter seems to last a long time they look almost identical to a metal Bixby igniter
If I owned a AE I would want extra igniters even the newer ones go bad. Extra gaskets for exh fan.
If I own a Bixby I would want a couple bearings for the convection fan and maybe a couple metal igniters if they were not installed. I would also want the cable and latest software so I could get the most out of the stove.
Everyone has their ideas of what they want from a bio burner. I wanted one that would burn corn or pellets without much changing. Most stoves will burn a 50-50 mix quite well. In fact corn and pellets complement each other. I like the idea of a large hopper for fuel and a large hopper for ash so I don't have to be home filling it or emptying the ash twice a day. When I do empty the ash I don't want to have to shut the stove off to do it. I like how it stays burning while emptying the pot. I usually try to shut down and clean every 2 or 3 weeks. Takes me about 10-15 minutes once the stove shuts off.
I should also point out when I was selling my Harman 45 and AE both companies were short on stoves and new ones weren't to be had so I got a good price for them.
This is just my experiences and why I ended up doing what I did. I have farmed all my life and probably a little more used to doing my own repairs then some people are. Maybe I am considered a bad person for burning corn that could feed the starving world I don't know but I doubt people would be willing to eat yellow corn.
 
260.00 bucks for the fan? Wow I guess the 120.00 bucks I paid was a steal !!! And yes grainger has the blower motor. Just pull old one off and cross reference the dayton part number ... Took me about 2.5 hrs to change but im anal and cleaned the entire stove before I buttoned it back up!! I have had my stove auger out because of a foreign object in the pellets that jammed it up so im pretty familiar with my Harman !!!! She is close to 8 yrs old .. I dont keep spare parts I mean I have a oil furnace so I have back up heat!!!!
 
I have a dealer that has serviced my used Harman Accentra FS pellet stove for me. They also did my installation and they do great work. I was wondering, however, what a "fair" price was (in your opinions) for a service call fee to replace a failed motor or blower. My distribution blower just failed on me and they quoted the part ($290) plus a service installation fee of $175 (total $482). It's hard to put a price on good customer service, but does this seem steep to anyone else? I'm not very savy when it comes to mechanical parts, is this something I could do myself?

Can't comment on the cost of the blower but last year my guy charged me $150 for a service call.
 
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